A pierogi Christmas tradition goes back generations for Kalamazoo-area family

ALLEGAN, MI – Each Christmas season, the Laskovy family gathers to carry on a tradition started a century ago in Eastern Europe.

Up to four generations of the Laskovys come together on or around Christmas Eve to make pierogies -- hundreds of them at a time.

"Everything is made from scratch," said Julie Mead, whose grandmother Yulianna Laskovy first started making the dish in the Ukraine before she moved to America in 1910. Yulianna later married her husband, Julius, and settled on a farm in Decatur.

"It's one of the things that makes Christmas special," Mead said. "In that way, it's like a lot of traditions."

For more than 50 years, four sisters -- Eleanor Laskovy Mead, 79; Anne Laskovy Petersen, 91; Stella Laskovy Pollack 92; and Dorothy Laskovy Smith, 97 -- have been getting together to pinch dough for the Christmas Eve treat.

"They're still right there, hilarious, feisty and fun," said Julie Mead, Eleanor's daughter, as the family gathered in Allegan on Sunday to prepare their holiday specialty.

Honoring their mother

By continuing the family tradition, the sisters honor their mother, who worked hard to raise eight children. Yulianna's husband died six months after her last child was born and she worked hard milking cows, taking factory jobs and working in the fields to provide for her family, Eleanor said.

"My mother was the greatest thing on Earth to me," she said. "She was always smiling, no matter how hard it was."

Yulianna rarely went to the grocery store, and then it was to buy staples like sugar, Eleanor said. Most of what they ate on the farm, they cultivated and canned themselves.

It was difficult being an Eastern European immigrant in the first half of the 20th century, Eleanor said. Her mother couldn't speak English well when she first moved to the United States, and while growing up in a mostly Dutch area, others looked down upon them because they were different.

However, that didn't deter her mother from embracing her new home.

"She loved this country," Eleanor said. "In many ways, Ellis Island, where she first came to America, was like heaven to her."

Not easy cooking

A pierogi is a dumpling of unleavened dough stuffed with various ingredients. It is not the easiest food to make, said Julie Mead, who learned the time-consuming art of forming and pinching the dough from her mother and aunts. They are the ones, she admits, who still make the dish better than anyone else.

"My sister Dorothy said that what is most important, is that the filling be quite flavorful," Eleanor Mead said.

Potatoes and sauerkraut are used in the filling in the traditional Laskovy family recipe. Flour, a touch of salt and lots of butter are also imperative to make great-tasting pierogies.

"It's probably not the best for cholesterol levels," Eleanor admits.

Despite technology such as blenders, the Laskovys use the tried-and-true methods that haven't changed much over nearly six decades.

After all of the prep work is done, the actual cooking with boiling of the pierogies doesn't take too long, and you know when it's finished because the dough rises, Eleanor said.

Family moving forward

Eleanor said she looks forward to continuing the tradition for years
to come. Her son, Robert Mead, who lives in Santa Rosa, Calif., had
already cooked a batch of pierogies for his family last week and emailed
pictures of him cooking them to his mother in Michigan.

"They look good. He makes them larger than I do," she said.

Her daughter, Julie, said making pierogies has been an integral family ritual. "When growing up, everyone made it together," she said. "There
was a lot of storytelling, and food was a big part of the culture."

Although not all members of the family help out making the dish, Eleanor said she thinks her family has done a good job preserving their heritage and that more of the grandchildren will be interested in taking part as they get older.

"I think at a certain age, learning about your roots comes to you," she said.